We took Rachel for her consultation and casting at the clinic on Tuesday. It went okay, but Miss Rachel was really not impressed. They told us that she has “moderate” plagiocephaly (abnormal head shape) – I had thought she had a really mild case, but because of her ear-shifting, she’s considered a moderate case. They also told us that the plagiocephaly definitely started in utero, so it was nothing we did that caused it. Fortunately, she will only need to wear the helmet for 6 – 8 weeks because she is so young. However, due to the cost of it, I think I would prefer that she wear it until her 10th birthday!

For some reason, we didn’t take any pictures during the casting of Rachel’s head. Probably because she screamed the entire time and I felt really bad for her. I didn’t want to humiliate her by capturing the event on film – although it would have been good blackmail for the future. Josh did snap a few pictures during her bath when she still had plaster all over her head. Poor thing.

For those interested, the process by which the helmet is constructed is actually kind of neat. First, they make the cast of her head and then use that to create a 3-D model of her head. This 3-D model is then built up and formed to be the shape that we want her head to be. The helmet is constucted from this “perfected” model. Not only will we get to keep her helmet when she’s done with it, but we also get the mold of her head. It comes on a stick. We’re thinking it could be fun around Halloween!

I can’t believe Rachel is 4 months old already. Time is flying by and she’s growing up so quickly. We went for her 4 months well check on Friday and she is doing excellent. She weighs 13.5 pounds and is 25.5 inches lond, which are the 56th percentile and 88th percentile, respectively. We can now officially start her on solid foods, but we’ve been giving her cereal for a few weeks now anyway. We’ve also made the decision to get her casted to wear a DOC Band (also known as a helmet). She has a flat spot on the back of her head which has caused her head to be the smallest bit misshapen. As a result, one ear is higher and further back than the other. No one would ever be able to tell unless they’re looking for it, but we feel that as she gets older, she will know that her head is not shaped right and will be very self-conscious about it. This is a really difficult decision to make. She’s such a beautiful little girl that I can’t bear the thought of her having to wear a helmet for 23 hours out of every day. But, in the long run, this makes the most sense. We will be bringing her to the clinic to get casted on June 19th and she will begin treatment (wearing her brand new, custom made helmet) on June 29th. I’m really sad that she has to go through this, but Josh is super excited about having her helmet painted – he is insisting that we have it painted like Tron! For more info about the DOC Band, please check out the website of the clinic that we’re taking her to: http://www.cranialtech.com/

Hopefully, one day we’ll be able to look back at pictures of her wearing her helmet and laugh at how silly she looks!

I’ve been saying for months that I really need to start a blog to keep my family and friends up to date on what’s going on in our world. Yesterday, I finally got the kick in the butt that I need to get going. While putzing around on Yahoo! Photos trying to figure out why my pictures always “failed to upload,” I discovered that Yahoo! Photos is closing and I will need to find a different photo sharing site. So I figured that now is as good a time as any. Now I’ll be able to add stories to my pictures. Yay! Stay tuned…